Top 6 Reasons Why Startups Should Choose Swift for iOS App Development

Originally published June 6, 2017, updated October 21st, 2019

Having a mobile app is a must-have thing for companies nowadays, no matter what’s the size of the organization. If you are a startup and planning to develop an iOS app, you might come across the dilemma of choosing between Objective C and Swift for iOS app development. To help you out, our developers have shared the benefits of Swift over Objective C in this blog.

Swift is a robust programming language for iOS, watchOS, macOS and tvOS. It is widely used by developers for iOS app development and has already taken the market, leaving Objective-C on the backseat. The top-rated companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Uber and IBM have already switched to Swift programming language and are popularizing iOS app development with Swift. 

For a language that has been operative in the industry for a long time, it is only right that we acknowledge Objective-C in this article. 

The Objective-C is basically a superset of the C programming language. It comes added with dynamic runtime and object-oriented features. 

In 2014, Apple decided to shift its focus from Objective-C and bring into inception a new programming language, which was called Swift or even Objective-C without C. 

And now, startups and enterprises from across the globe are looking opting to do iOS app development with Swift language.

What is Swift programming language?

Swift is a modern, fast programming language which enables developers to create a newer level of interactivity inside their custom iOS development process. It entails a number of beneficial features like closures, generics, and type interfaces which makes the language very easy to use and simplify the patterns used in Objective-C. 

The language combines the features present in both Objective-C and C languages even without having a direct built-in compatibility for C. This makes developing with Swift a modern process. 

There are two primal differences between Objective-C and using Swift for iOS app development –

1. iOS Swift language is not a direct C language superset. Meaning, Swift can use syntax constructs freely, allowing developers to implement custom operators in the Swift language. 
2. The language is dynamically types. Meaning, Swift can benefit from all the type systems’ recent advances. 

Now that you have gotten an idea of Swift and what makes it different from Objective-C, let us get down to the reasons that makes the language the preferred choice of developers, around the world. 

6 Reasons Why You Should Choose Swift for iOS App Development

Open Source & Growing Rapidly

Till 2014, the only language for iOS app development was Objective-C, but now iOS development with Swift is what is ruling the market. This open-source programming language is easily accessible and less costly, making it widely used, especially by small businesses and startups. Till now, Swift is available on Linux, but it is expected to come to Windows as well, making it gaining more popularity in the coming years.

Easy and Less Time-consuming Coding

One of the biggest challenges faced by mobile app development startups is the shortage of time to deliver top-class apps to the market. iOS programming with Swift overcomes this challenge. With Swift package managers, one can push their packages to integrate with others, concentrate completely on the logic and take the perks of different packages to assemble apps in lesser time. 

According to the experts of Appinventiv, there are various repositories of Swift package managers, including IBM Swift package catalog which offers outstanding dependency management and easy coding options.

Secure & Easier Maintenance

App security and easy maintenance are two prominent demands of mobile app development these days, and Swift fulfills both. It handles bugs and calls the pointer variables in a better and much safer way than the Objective-C. Also, it does not have any legacy code to deal with, making it easier to perform the maintenance process.

Objective-C cannot emerge till C does, but iOS Swift development has no such conditions. Thus, maintenance is easier in the case of Swift iOS development.

Less Code, Less Errors

Swift is a light and compact programming language for iOS app development, which is less error-prone and prevents you from making mistakes. This programming language removes the entire classes of unsafe mode. Moreover, you have to write less codes in this iOS language which increases the readability and simplicity of the program.

Faster than Objective-C

Swift is an organized and well-designed language developed by Apple and is faster than Objective-C. It is intuitive, expressive, clean and serves unified memory management, which enable developers to express the objective of the code without letting language comes in the way.

This speediness comes in very handy for businesses as well, for iPhone app development companies usually charge by the hour. And so, because the time it takes to write a Swift application is low, the total billable hour also lowers. 

Efficient Readability

Swift app development is famous for its clean syntax, which makes it very easy to write, read, and modify. The code lines needed to write an application using frameworks for Swift iOS app development is also a lot lower than what is needed in case of Objective-C. 

Conclusion

It is much more effective and efficient to develop iOS with Swift as it results into high-quality apps and businesses get to enjoy instant productivity gains. And with constant improvements and updates, it is likely to be more valuable for developers. So, if you are thinking of creating your own iOS business app, take no time to work on iOS development with Swift and enjoy the utmost benefits.

Let our iPhone and iPad app experts help you with the process of how to start developing iOS apps with Swift. 

FAQs About Doing iOS Programming With Swift

Q. Do iOS apps have to be written in Swift?

While it is preferred according to the present industry standard. It is not necessary for the iOS apps to be written in Swift. There are many developers and iOS app development companies that work on Objective-C as well. 

Q. How do I start developing iOS apps?

There are many things that you will have to learn in order to start your iPhone app development journey like getting familiar with the frameworks, guidelines, and standards that Apple asks for. 

But the first thing you will have to get a hands-on experience is knowledge of – Xcode, iOS SDK, and Swift language. 

Q. How many apps are written in Swift?

According to this blog source, 42% of the top 110 apps on the app store. And if you only take into account the non-gaming apps, 57% of the top 79 non-games use Swift.